Sugoi-Con - Studio Ironcat

	Yes, this page does spend a lot ot time listening to presentations by Studio Ironcat, but that's because the Virginia small publisher goes to a lot of conventions and does a lot of work. With occasional actor and established artist Doug Smith (left) joining Steve Bennett (right), things already have changed with a new look to the company's cover art. However, those changes - and others - have meant that Ironcat's October and November titles will be a couple of weeks late. "The month of October was just hell for us," Bennett said.
	Something that started as a joke is gaining momentum and is going to turn into a serious project at Ironcat. When the company noticed the large number of costumers at conventions (such as the woman wearing the outfit of one of the Sugoi-Con mascots that Bennett designed), the Ironcat office staff joked that they should have a costuming calendar. That offhand suggestion is not turning into a real calendar, with the company recruiting potential calendar girls and guys in cat costumes through its web site. "It's not just the ladies," Bennett noted. "A lot of guys wrote in, saying `Can we do an Ironcat costume?' "
	Ironcat has a lot of projects in the works such as the Spectral Force title being co-produced with ADV Films, but they won't talk about other concepts (including one super-secret book that...well, they won't even hint at the title). However, they are getting ready to release more of the Vampire Princess Miyu titles and the newer Vampire Princess Yui series, and they'd like to follow that up with a convention trip from the creator of those series. Bennett said that Narumi Kakinouchi is interested in visiting North American fans, and Ironcat has just about talked her into attending an anime convention in 2001. The number of Miyu and Larva costumers is helping convince Kakinouchi to head to North America, he said.

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